Eagles-Giants Final Score: Observations from Philadelphia’s win over New York, 34 to 29

The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New York Giants on Sunday at MetLife Stadium by a final score of 34 to 29. The Eagles advanced to 12-2 on the 2017 NFL regular season. Read on for a recap and observations from the game. Up next for Philadelphia is a home game against the Oakland Raiders. Watch the BGN Radio postgame show LIVE in the video below (click here if you can’t see it).

FIRST QUARTER

Eagles win the coin toss and elect to defer. Defense up first. Time to make a statement with Carson Wentz out.

Najee Goode, not Joe Walker, gets the start at middle linebacker in Philly’s base defense. The Giants get two quick completions for a first down. Looks like New York is going with their strategy from their first game against the Eagles this season, slants all day. Eli Manning connects with Evan Engram on 3rd-and-3 to move the chains again. Mismatch for the shorter Ronald Darby. Then Darby gives up a bigger completion after biting on a double move. Giants move into goal-to-go territory. 3rd-and-goal. Vinny Curry drags Manning down from behind to notch a sack. But it’s wiped out by a Jalen Mills holding penalty. DUMB. Orleans Darkwa runs in for a touchdown on the second 3rd-and-goal of the drive. Really weak performance by Jim Schwartz’s unit here to open the game. So much for making a statement. At least Derek Barnett blocked the extra point. Giants lead, 6-0.

Chance Warmack gets the start at left guard as the Eagles’ offense takes over. Nick Foles immediately throws to Alshon Jeffery for a first down. Then a terrible throw to Zach Ertz goes for a 2-yard loss. Jay Ajayi gets his first carry and the Giants get called for illegal hands to the face. Foles throws to Nelson Agholor and it’s a hospital pass. The ball comes out after Nelly gets hit but he somehow re-catches it anyway. Foles eludes a free edge rusher (Wentz-esque!) and airs it out deep to Torrey Smith, who draws a pass interference penalty. 1st-and-goal. Corey Clement runs for a short gain. Then Foles finds Jeffery in the back of the end zone. Real nice throw and catch. I never doubted you, Nick. Great pass protection as well, no pressure to speak of. Eagles lead, 7-6.

Curry hits Manning to force an incompletion that brings up 3rd-and-5. The Giants convert with another ... you guessed it ... slant. This one to Engram. Eagles get the Giants into 3rd-and-9 ... another conversion. This one to Engram for a big gain. New York moves into the red zone. Manning hits a WIDE OPEN Tavarres King for another touchdown. Jalen Mills torched by the double move. This is a freaking pathetic effort by Schwartz’s unit. Where’s the urgency and pride with Wentz being out? Giants lead, 13-7.

Eagles offense takes back over with a first down catch-and-run by Agholor. Then Kenjon Barner (?!) takes a carry for 18 yards. Foles gets strip-sacked from behind by Olivier Vernon (Halapoulivaati Vaitai got beat) but Barner manages to recover. Lucky there.

SECOND QUARTER

Giants defense knocks down a pass for Jeffery on third down. Eagles have to punt on 4th-and-11.

Eagles force Manning into an incompletion on first down. But Mills gets called for a holding penalty. Really bad start for the Green Goblin. 3rd-and-2 ... and Sterling Shepard takes a short catch 62 YARDS for a touchdown. Excuse my language, but that’s fucking pathetic. Rodney McLeod totally whiffed on an opportunity to at least push him out of bounds. Similar thing happened with Malcolm Jenkins against the Rams last week. Giants lead, 20-7.

Eagles go three-and-out after an inaccurate throw from Foles to Ertz on 3rd-and-6. Cool.

Giants get into 3rd-and-8 and McLeod makes a big open field tackle to force a punt. Finally a good effort from the defense.

Foles overthrows an open Agholor on first down. Would’ve gone for a nice gain. Clement him out by rushing for a first. Great run blocking by the OL. Foles fails to throw to an open Agholor over the middle and chooses Smith instead, who tries to make a diving catch along the sideline. It’s incomplete. For some reason, Doug Pederson throws his challenge flag. Just an awful decision there, zero chance they were going to win. Doug’s really gotta get better booth review guys because that was terrible. On 3rd-and-2, Foles throws short of the sticks to Clement, who is immediately tackled. 4th-and-1, Eagles go for it and LeGarrette Blount gets tackled for a loss. Great stuff. Would’ve been nice to have a quarterback who is good at QB sneaks.

On third down, Manning throws ... and it’s PICKED! Darby makes the big play and jukes/spins like 50 times to put the Eagles offense in good field position. Way to step up, defense.

Foles has an open Jeffery in the end zone but recognizes it too late and almost gets picked. He makes up for it, though, with a nice touchdown pass to Ertz. Back to a one-possession game. Giants lead, 20-14.

Brandon Graham picks up a sack as the Giants take over. Manning’s pass on 3rd-and-4 goes into the dirt. Three-and-out. Another good stop. Kamu Grugier-Hill comes up big by blocking Brad Wing’s punt. Huge! Giants recover for a turnover on downs.

Eagles take over at the Giants’ 18-yard line. Foles overthrows Jeffery by a mile above his head. Ajayi runs for five yards to set up 3rd-and-5. Then Foles hits a WIDE OPEN Trey Burton for a touchdown. Too easy, in a good way. Philly takes their first lead of the day. Giants safety Landon Collins, who entered this matchup injured, gets ruled out for the game. Eagles lead, 21-20.

The Giants take over and move into field goal range with assistance from a dumb call by the refs. Bradham gets shoved in the head and shoves Shave Vereen back but only Bradham gets flagged. The ref was right there to see Bradham get shoved first. McLeod drops a pick on a Manning bullet that goes off target. Really could have used that one. Giants move into the red zone but have to settle for a 28-yard field goal. Giants lead, 23-21.

Barner makes a bad decision to bring the ball out of the end zone. Gets banged up after a short return. Eagles take a knee to end the first half.

THIRD QUARTER

Eagles get the ball to start the second half. Barner is back in the game to return the kickoff.

Foles throws to Smith on 2nd-and-8. It could’ve been a first down if Smith didn’t run backwards. Fortunately, Blount moves the chains on 3rd-and-1. Foles throws over the middle to Jeffery, who makes a great catch with his hands extended. Then he hits Ertz in tight coverage. Eagles move into the red zone with a screen pass to Jeffery, great blocks by Vaitai and Jason Kelce (pancake) in the open field. 3rd-and-5 from the 10-yard line. Foles throws a fade to Jeffery and Ross Cockrell ends up having a better chance to catch it. Thankfully it’s incomplete instead of being picked. Eagles settle for a 28-yard Jake Elliott field goal. Eagles lead, 24-23.

Giants go three-and-out on their first drive of the second half. Nice work, D.

A bad punt from Wing (A bad punt from a Giants punter in an Eagles game? Never seen that before!) allows the Eagles to take over at their own 41-yard line. Foles can’t connect with Mack Hollins on play-action. Wobbly ball, off target. Didn’t look like they were on the same page. Ajayi picks up a big gain on the ground thanks to some great blocking by Kelce. Then he takes a screen pass to goal-to-go territory. Jay Train is cooking. Foles takes a delay of game penalty on first down. Then he throws another pass for a loss. Then he throws a lob to Agholor who MOSSES the Giants defender for a touchdown. Boom! GREAT catch. The Eagles celebrate by Jeffery lobbing the football up to Agholor for an alley-oop spike. Does Foles have another 7-touchdown performance in him? Currently up to 4. Eagles lead, 31-28.

Manning has Shepard open deep on third down but overthrows him. Another three-and-out for the Giants. Or not. Goode jumps early and the Giants get a free first down via a neutral zone infraction. INCREDIBLY DUMB. Giants convert on another 3rd-and-2. Then Manning hits King for a 57-yard catch-and-run on another slant. Darby toasted in coverage. Touchdown. Bad defense, but that terrible penalty by Goode really cost them. Giants go for the 2-point conversion but Cox sacks Manning. At least there’s that. Eagles lead, 31-29.

Eagles can’t get anything going on offense. Foles double-clutched on a throw he could’ve made to Ertz. Philly has to punt. Donnie Jones loses his grip on the ball but somehow gets the punt off anyway. Fortunate.

FOURTH QUARTER

Bradham makes a big tackle for loss on 2nd-and-1. Giants convert on 3rd-and-5 thanks to a screen to Wayne Gallman. Then Manning picks up another first down to Engram as the Giants go with the hurry-up. Then Gallman goes for a big run. Patrick Robinson goes down with an injury. Took a foot to the head and then a knee to the head. Ow. Scary. Jenkins move into the nickel corner role with Corey Graham taking over at safety. Speaking of Grahams, Brandon tackles Gallman for a 9-yard loss. Really great tackle for loss on a toss play. 3rd-and-17 and Manning throws short of the sticks to set up a field goal attempt. Aldrick Rosas’ 48-yard attempt is ... BLOCKED. Jenkins got the tip. Another big play by the special teams unit.

Eagles could really use a score on this drive, even if it’s just a field goal. Agholor drops a pass on 2nd-and-8. The ball was right on his hands. Foles goes right back to Agholor on 3rd-and-8 and the receiver makes the catch over the middle. Nice redemption. Eagles get into 3rd-and-9 and Foles finds Ertz, who actually breaks a tackle (!) to run for a first down (YAC ERTZ). Ajayi runs to set up 3rd-and-1 but gets banged up on the play. Looks like a groin injury? Foles sneaks it on third down and the refs spot it for a first. May have been a slightly generous spot. Foles just not as good on sneaks as Wentz is. Foles hits Agholor to put the Eagles in goal-to-go. Ajayi runs for a loss. Agholor catches a pass for a loss. On third down, Foles throws to Smith but it’s short of the goal line. Elliott makes the short field goal to put the Eagles up by five points. Eagles lead, 34-29.

Giants take over at their own 20-yard line with 3:51 remaining. Darby flagged. Bradham drops a pick that was thrown RIGHT to him. Ugh. That’s his third dropped interception in the last two games. Gotta have that. Giants move into field goal range. Eagles defense just standing no chance against slants. Giants move into the red zone ... thanks to a slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Slant. Darby has a chance to pick of Manning on and 2nd-and-goal but the ball is just a little too high out of his reach. Giants run a draw on 3rd-and-goal. 4th-and-goal with 38 seconds left. Philly takes their final timeout while the Giants still have three. Fales start by the Giants’ right tackle. Loss of five yards. Manning’s fourth down pass is ... INCOMPLETE! Corey Graham with good coverage on Engram in the end zone.

Eagles take back over but the Giants have three timeouts. Blount runs three times to get to 4th-and-1 with 24 seconds left in the game.

Jones punts low but luckily it’s not blocked. Giants take over at their own 27-yard line. The Giants try to run some tricky stuff but it doesn’t work. GAME OVER.

FINAL SCORE

Eagles win and officially clinch a first-round bye in the 2018 NFL Playoffs.

Whew.

Too close for comfort!

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Stay tuned for much more Eagles-Giants postgame coverage (click here).